The Survivor - Part 1 (1712 hits)
Category: GeneralLabels: uberbookseries The_Survivor
Rating: 1.95 on 24 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by <brdn_nkd.at.yahoo.com> (View user info) at 2004-10-07 15:09:56 EDT
I know it's bad form to post twice in one day but an earlier reviewer pointed out that I didn't take the story far enough when I cut it off so I am reposting. I am reposting because I want to be able to continue the story the way I should rather than having to work in the last part of the first chapter.
The Survivor - Part One
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I am the Survivor. I outlived all the other competitors to be the last. The game changed, they didn't tell us. I began this experience by submitting an application and a video of myself to the show. To be picked for the first call was exciting, to be picked for the show was unimaginable.
The application was one of those essay type things. I answered the questions truthfully for the most part; I may have exaggerated a few things. For my video I spliced footage of me bungee jumping, skydiving, snowboarding, and rock climbing together and ended it by saying, in my best Survivor announcer guy voice, "a true Survivor". Cheesy, I know, but they loved it, ate that shit right up.
I should have known that this would not be the standard Survivor game when we, the 16 competitors, were given a crash course in flying an ultralight and told that the first challenge of the game would be to pilot our respective airplanes to the island we would call home during the competition. We spent a week learning the basics of flying the plane; we learned how to take off, maintain altitude, and how to land. Being in an ultralight is not like any other plane. You basically sit in a chair with wings, no windshield, no fuselage, it's scary and wonderful all at the same time. Landing is scary as hell, you have to fly that little box with wings right down to the ground before you can slow down to actually land.
We were told that each competitor would start his/her flight fifteen minutes apart. We had to fly 45 miles over open ocean, find the landing strip, and land in order to continue in the game. The island was due north, each ultralight was equipped with a compass, and there were going to be buoys every three miles to help us stay on course. The first two Survivors took and off and it was my turn to go. I got myself situated, was given the go ahead, and began my flight. Takeoff was no problem, just like in class. In a few short minutes I was up in open air enjoying the scenery all around me. At 83 miles an hour it would take me about 35 minutes to reach my destination, I settled into my seat, keeping an eye on my compass and started watching for the first buoy.
It was a beautiful day, sun brightly reflecting off the aquamarine surface of the still ocean below me. There were several sea gulls flying around this close to shore and a few of them were curious about this new object that had joined them in the air. With no other instruments on board I had no way of judging distance so I began timing my flight using my wristwatch, I needed a way to know about when to expect the buoys. When I spotted the first one I realized that I'd drifted off course, I corrected my course and restarted my stopwatch. The next eight buoys were uneventful and I was enjoying this opportunity to fly this strange aircraft. As I neared the ninth buoy I saw that one of my competitors was in the water. Shawna was treading water next to the few pieces of her aircraft that were still on top of the water. She anxiously shouted and waved at me, I'm really not sure what she thought I could do for her and the thought that she might be warning me never crossed my mind. A minute later and I hear a helicopter. The noise grows until I see it coming straight at me. This chopper is obviously with the show and has an elaborate camera pointing out the side of it. I didn't worry about it much since, being with the show, they would definitely be aware of me and make sure not to cause me problems, but when they flew right over the top of me the wind from the rotors rocked my little box so hard that I thought I was going to end up in the drink too. I frantically fought the little plane to right it, nearly overcorrecting as I pulled the nose back to where it should be. There was a short second when I thought the engine was going to stall before it resumed its steady lawnmower thrum. That's when I saw the other Survivor in the water.
Jim was extremely confident when we went through "flight school". He was an airline pilot and felt that these "toys" were the simplest things in the world. He boasted that he should be allowed to skip class because he could fly anything with wings. Jim was now floating face down in the water and wasn't moving.
The helicopter that had buzzed me must have buzzed the other two, having barely saved myself from taking a dive I knew that's probably what put them in the water. What I couldn't understand was the fact that the helicopter didn't seem to be trying to rescue the two in the water, they just kept on filming, alternating the camera view between me and the two in the water. I had no choice but to continue my flight and shortly the helicopter, Jim, and Shawna, were left behind me.
I continued flying north following the buoys and thinking about what I'd just seen. Surely, they will have to stop the game. If Jim is as dead as he looks they couldn't possibly expect the others and me to continue, right? I didn't find out how wrong I was until later but right now I could not imagine continuing the contest. I grew more nervous the more I thought about it, if they weren't intentionally trying to make it more difficult for competitors to complete this first challenge then the crew is being incredibly careless. I decided then that I would not continue. I considered turning around but decided against it when I thought of how close I was to the island, and the fact that I didn't know how much fuel I'd been given.
As I neared the twelth buoy I spotted the island. It was a small kidney shaped piece of land with one large peak in the middle of it, nothing else in sight. It was densely covered with trees and brush and had one narrow stretch of beach that I could see on this side of the island. The color of the water changed to a brighter shade of blue close to shore and I saw, or at least imagined I saw, sharks swimming on the bottom. As I continued closer I saw that the narrow strip of beach had more buoys on it marking out a rough landing strip. I couldn't believe it. I had to try to land this thing in sand? Unbelievable! If I didn't get it right it was going to be a rough day, I pictured the front tire just digging into the sand and the ultralight flipping end over end until it exploded in a great ball of oily fire. The alternatives were slim and not very attractive. Hitting the water as fast as I was going would be painful in the least and the prospect of swimming with sharks that may or may not be in the water wasn't very entertaining either. I chose the beach.
I lined up with the "landing strip" and began my descent. Like I said, landing an ultralight is scary. Because of the way they're built you can't slow down until you're almost on the ground. As the ground sped toward me I ran everything we'd been taught through my head and hoped I'd come out this in one piece. The ground was right under me now, I gently put the back wheels down first and then the front. As soon as they were on the ground the sand dragged the ultralight to an abrupt halt throwing me into the safety harness with an impact that left me bruised. I sat for a minute just looking ahead, not really seeing. When I'd gathered my wits again I realized that I needed to get the ultralight and myself off the strip to make room for the others.
I got out of my harness and looked up, standing 30 yards down the strip was a camera crew and the host of the "Game". I moved the ultralight off to the side near the trees and began to approach the crew. That's the moment that I noticed they were all armed. Each member of the crew had a shoulder holster with rather large looking pistols in them and a few of them were also carrying rifles. Having nowhere else to go I continued toward the crew hoping the arms they bore were to protect us/them from wild animals, plausible but it didn't strike me as true. As I walked forward the host raised his gun and asked me to stop where I was and take a seat.
User Reviews
Submitted by monkeyswithguns (user info) at 2007-09-21 15:48:50 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by FilthyAssistant (user info) at 2006-08-17 18:30:50 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Ok, you got me. Now for part 2.
Submitted by Stagger_Lee (user info) at 2006-04-19 05:05:44 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
This is gonna go all Battle Royale, isn't it? That was a sweet movie.
Submitted by Davros (user info) at 2005-12-15 02:11:36 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Yeah so I am late, but I knew I would get to it eventually.
Give me a few days to get through them.
-Dave
Submitted by RyuFu (user info) at 2005-11-03 15:44:03 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
There's a nice setup...now only 49-ish more parts to go...
Submitted by Wrightcopy (user info) at 2005-09-08 11:15:47 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I'm only one part in and I already think I'm hooked.
Submitted by Benny (user info) at 2005-08-17 23:10:15 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Teephphah (user info) at 2005-07-08 13:54:04 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Coo.
Submitted by Holz (user info) at 2005-03-01 14:38:28 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Great concept
Submitted by mikethescottish (user info) at 2005-03-01 10:45:48 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Great concept. Shame I didn't catch on earlier.
Submitted by Ed_0150 (user info) at 2005-01-20 21:51:40 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Interesting
Submitted by Fleury75 (user info) at 2005-01-09 10:28:38 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
sweet
Submitted by jack11058 (user info) at 2004-11-26 11:32:05 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by BLITZKREIG_BOB (user info) at 2004-10-08 11:44:26 (#)
Ranking: 2
Survivor meets The Running Man.
Cool!
Submitted by salmonofdoubt (user info) at 2004-11-26 10:53:27 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Holy shit, I've been avoiding these because I figured they would be lame, but I saw your new one today on the front page and was like "Fuck it, I'll read them". Holy shit...This is good.
Submitted by Phinch (user info) at 2004-11-05 15:26:03 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by JinkyWilliams (user info) at 2004-11-02 14:52:53 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Stay orange.
--JW
Submitted by Julia (user info) at 2004-10-29 12:38:00 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Sorry, I forgot to rate it.
Submitted by Julia (user info) at 2004-10-29 12:37:22 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Please see my comments on chapter 26.
Submitted by BLITZKREIG_BOB (user info) at 2004-10-08 11:44:26 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Survivor meets The Running Man.
Cool!
Submitted by wookie (user info) at 2004-10-08 09:04:53 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
+2 for this one as well.
Submitted by munkeypants (user info) at 2004-10-08 08:26:24 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Adamdidit2u (user info) at 2004-10-07 15:27:58 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
MUCH better
Submitted by Falconer (user info) at 2004-10-07 15:21:20 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Excellent, can't wait for more.
Submitted by zakalwe (user info) at 2004-10-07 15:16:54 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
So part 2 is forthcoming?